Seventy four

OLAMIDE

Fire and heat ricocheted past us as we ran from our attackers. There was something in the shrubs. There are people in the shrubs and they wanted us dead. My body shook as we pushed past blades of grass that tore through my skin like they were sheets of paper.

"Take the children." Someone told my mother. "I'll stall the Silverlaws."

"You'll die." My mother panicked in the Yoruba dialect. "We can make it. The threads assure me."

"But we both know the threads will only protect you. If I can change how situations turn out. Maybe our children will not have to die."

He looked hopeless. They both did. With tears in her eyes, my mother accepted the heavy mantle my father has placed on his shoulders and cupped his face to kiss him. As they ended the kiss, something in the shadows whooshed in their direction. It was a blur but before the attacker could cause any real damage, the man stopped in his tracks. His katana clanged to the ground and his knees gave in. He clutched onto his neck and looked in my direction in horror. I saw silk of crimson tear away from his throat and retract back to my mother's palms. Blood seeped between his fingers and he struggled to breathe all while looking into my eyes. My father reached out for the man's katana and plunged the entirety of the blade into his chest, killing him.

"Go!" He implored, taking a fighting stance.

Without so much as a disinclination, my mother grabbed both me and my younger brother by the hand and ran. We stumbled and fell but there was no time to rest or hide. These people were mad on our trail. I remembered seeing my grandpa's decapitated waiting for us on the front lawn when we arrived from one of my mother's healing sessions. Mother's gift had alerted us that there was danger around and we had taken to our heels. We had no idea what they wanted or why they were after us but they seemed to be after mother and the people she loved had become living walking targets if that meant there were going to get to her quickly.

"Mom," Deji cried as his tiny legs struggled to keep up. "Are we going to die?"

In spite of the danger we were all in, mother bent down to look at her youngest. "Of course not. I promise." Seconds after her promise, mother stopped running. I watched her point her hand towards a section in the jungle. The ground seemed to tremble as the crimson threads flowed like wild meshes into the ground. The part of the forest where mother focused on seemed to change. I remembered the entire space being nothing but giant trunks of trees and darkness. However, there was now a trail leading to a busy road. Yet, there was no time to linger on my mother's gifts. The footsteps behind us got louder with one of our chasers screaming, "She's opening portals! We will lose her." Mother grabbed our hands and ran into the cleared path. We emerged from the thick of the forest into a busy road in the town of Ibadan. Mother's gift had made it appear as nothing weird had just occurred. I looked up to my mother and noticed her frightened demeanor. She was touring the roads for somewhere. Somewhere we could hide I believe. Eventually, mother summoned the courage to approach a man taking pictures. He was white. Stout and middle-aged. Possibly a foreigner. The camera flicked in our direction and the lights temporarily blinded us.

"You all look like shit." He mocked, taking a look at the picture.

"Kind man," My mother spoke, this time in English. Her accent was thick and made it sound like she was pretentious. "We are in a dilemma. Some madmen dey after us. I just wonder if... Oga, no vex oh... Na beg oh. Shey, we fit hide on your vehicle."

The man stared down at us with disgust. He was almost laughing. It took the bare minimum not to do it but we all knew he didn't make an effort to mask it. "Fuck off," He scoffed. He swerved his back against us and strolled towards his car.

"Stop!" My mother ordered. The crimson threads shot out from beneath her fingers and invaded the man's ear. I had been this done before. When my mother came across difficult people. She used this ability. It was not necessarily for malicious reasons but in this situation, it was but my mother had no choice. The man stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. His eyeballs were alarmingly white. She walked up to him and continued. "Listen and listen well. The words of my mouth shall carry until the end of your time. These beautiful children in my hands are the children of your very dear friend. You will grant them shelter and protect them for as long as you shall live."

The man nodded and reached out his hands for us. A gasp exploded from the depth of my mouth as I started at the man in horror. "Mom, what are you doing?"

Mother said nothing but the tears dropping out of the slits of her eyes betrayed the courage she tried so hard to mutter. She wiped away the pouring tears and kissed me and my brother on the cheeks. "I love you and Deji so much." She promised with a charged throat. "But I will not be able to live with myself if I can't keep either you or your brother safe."

"But..." I protested, latching on to her hand. "You will be coming with us right?"

Mother winced to gobble up a cry she couldn't hide. "In a way. Emi yoo wa pẹlu rẹ nigbagbogbo." which roughly translated that she would be with me till the end of time. Her hands caressed my hair and I only caught on to what she was doing when my eyes darted to my brother. Her threads were in his ear, changing things. The back of my eyes burned as I proceeded to remove the hands that caressed my head. The thread was there.

"You are not coming with us. Are you?" I asked.

Mother placed the hand back on my hair. "A part of me will. My gift will always follow you."

"Your powers?"

I watched her hands drift away from my hair before resting on my chest. "They are not mine anymore Olamide. They are yours now and they will protect you till the end of time so do me a favor and protect your brother." She begged of me in Yoruba. "The moment I tear this thread off my hands, you and your brother will forget all that happened today. You will be blissfully unaware of the horrific things that happened to your family and while it is not fair. I know that you will be safe. So will the attribute."

I was going to protest. There was no way I was going to let her go ahead with such madness bit before I could even construct a single sentence, mother tugged at the threads.